Intervention
by DarkPoltergeist
Summary: The Captain and Carolyn seem unable to stop bickering; the children and Martha decide to intervene.


_Right belong to R.A. Dick and Twentieth Century Fox, I own nothing, only borrow the characters from time to time._

INTERVENTION

Lunch was over, the kids were busy working on a puzzle in the living room, and Martha was cleaning up in the kitchen. It should have been a lovely, quiet evening at Gull Cottage, but the peace was broken by the sound of arguing coming from the Master Suite upstairs. Carolyn and the Captain, Carolyn's Captain, thought Martha, were bickering again over some incredibly trivial matter. Ever since the renewal of her parents wedding vows just a few weeks earlier, the two had been at it. Martha knew what the problem was; she just wasn't sure how to solve it. The Captain and Carolyn Muir were desperately in love, everyone in the house knew it, but they refused to admit it to themselves or to each other. Martha knew Carolyn very well, and regarded her as a friend even more than her employer, and she thought she knew the Captain well enough to understand that the two stubborn adults were both suffering from the same thing, unrelieved sexual tension. It was the natural inclination to share feelings of love and attraction between two adults that loved one another, but because of the Captain's lack of physicality, there wasn't much to be done to resolve their problem, and so they argued.

Martha came out of the kitchen, dish towel in hand and looked up the stairs, only to see that the children, Jonathan and Candy were also looking up the stairs from the doorway of the living room.

"I wish they would stop fighting," Candy said and rolled her eyes.

"Me too," Jonathan agreed. "They're so dopy about this."

"What do you mean, Jonathan?" Martha asked.

"It's obvious," Candy said.

"Yeah, obvious," Jonathan echoed.

"What is?" Martha asked.

"That they love each other. Didn't you know?"

"Oh, I know. I just wasn't sure you kids knew," Martha said.

"The way they look at each other?" Candy gave her a 'you've got to be kidding' look.

"Why don't they tell each other?" Jonathan asked.

"That, I don't know." Martha shook her head. "Though I think part of it is because the Captain can't touch us."

Candy and Jonathan exchanged a long look and shuffled their feet which did not go unnoticed by Martha.

"Kids?"What aren't you telling me?"

"We're not supposed to tell," Candy said.

"But maybe if you guessed it would be all right," Jonathan encouraged.

"That's not really telling, that's guessing," Candy agreed.

"You're rationalizing but at this point I don't care," Martha said. "Is you secret about the Captain?"

The kids nodded.

"Well, we already know that he loves your mom even though he hasn't said it, so that's not it." He paused. "Is it something new?"

"Kind of, is a couple of months ago considered new?" Candy asked.

"Kind of," Martha replied. "Is this something that's new for him?"

"He says so," Jonathan offered.

"Is it a big deal?"

The kids nodded with excitement in their eyes.

"Well, the biggest deal I can think of is that he's real? Alive?" She studied their faces and saw the disappointment there. "That was too much to hope for," she sighed.

"Not quite that good," Jonathan mumbled.

"The next best thing I can think of is if he could touch us. That would solve a lot of problems."

The children grinned and danced around Martha. "You guessed, you guessed!"

"The Captain can touch?" Martha gaped at the children. "Since when?"

"Martha, we told you, it was two months ago now," Candy said.

"How did you find out?"

"We were running down the steps and Jonathan tripped…"

"Did not!"

"And I tripped over him."

"We rolled down the stairs and the Captain appeared out of nowhere and caught us before we could hit bottom. It was cool!" Jonathan beamed.

"He said he didn't want us to get hurt and made us swear not to tell anyone, he said he would tell you and Mom when he was ready."  
"Then why isn't he ready?" Martha frowned as she looked up the steps.

"I don't know, we thought he would tell Mom after Grandma and Grandpa left."

"I think we should help them," Jonathan said.

"Jonathan, what do you mean?"

"Martha, they love each other," he explained patiently.

"And they want to be married," Candy continued, "but they can't, it's like their words are stuck, they can't get the right ones out."

Martha gave the children a shrewd look. "How did you two get to be so smart?"

The children smiled at each other.

"So what do you think we should do to help?" Martha asked. She had her own ideas now that she was in on the secret but she wanted to hear what the children had to say.

"They have to tell each other how they feel, that they love each other," Candy said.

"And then they have to get married," Jonathan finished.

"Married? But they can't do that. The Captain is well, he's a ghost," Martha said.

"Not really married, Martha, married for them and for us. The Captain said he shouldn't be with Mom unless they are married, but he shouldn't marry her because he's a ghost."

"And what do the two of you think of that?"

"Heck, we don't care. They love each other and we already think of him as our Dad. It would be great if they got married."

"Even if it's not quite real," Candy agreed.

"Out of the mouths of babes, " Martha said. "Come on you two smart children. I think they need our help and they're going to get it whether they want it or not. We're going to plan an intervention."

"Intervention? What's that?" Candy asked.

"Come with me, and I'll tell you," Martha shepherded her two accomplices into the kitchen.

Oh God, they had done it again, fought over the most trivial of matters, something that really mattered to neither of them in the long run. A fight that left them both angry and upset with each other over their unresolved differences, and their seeming inability to get at the core of their problems. Carolyn punched her pillow and then threw it across the room, annoyed that she felt no satisfaction from doing that.

Damn stubborn, pompous pig headed, chauvinistic man! Who did he think he was anyway? The great Captain Daniel Gregg, ladies man extraordinaire who was unable to say to her the words she most wanted to hear him say, unable to tell her exactly how he felt about her. On some level she knew how he felt, he had shown her in so many ways, but she had reached a point where he needed to hear the words, needed to know exactly how he felt about her, needed to know that the fact she was in love with him was not some huge mistake. She needed him to admit his feelings, and though she railed at him for just about anything these days it was her way of trying to get him to slip, trying to find that chink in his armor that would cause him to admit the feelings they both knew he had. And until he did, she didn't feel right telling him that she was head over heels in love with him. So she didn't. It was a vicious circle with no end in sight.

And on top of all of that did the fact that because of how she felt, because of how much she was attracted to him, she was incredibly frustrated know that she would never be able to touch him, to be touched by him, or loved by him. Although she had never considered herself a slave to her passions and desires, at the moment she knew she was. She spent far too much time fantasizing about what it would be like to be held in his arms, to feel him against her, in her, and to fall asleep in the afterglow. Hell, just falling asleep with his arms wrapped around her was something she dreamed about.

Oh, Carolyn, she thought, you've got it so bad for this arrogant, self indulgent ass of a Captain! What is wrong with you? How the hell does an intelligent woman like me fall in love with a ghost? It was too completely ridiculous for words.

She glared at the typewriter sitting on her desk, thought about writing and realized that she was far too keyed up to write at the moment. At times it was like a type of therapy, but now was not the time where it would help her. She needed physical activity, something to get her moving. A walk on the beach seemed just the thing, mad as she was, she hadn't sorted out if she wanted his company or not anyway. She certainly wasn't going to ask for it, but how would she react if he showed up? Deciding she would deal with that if she must, she left her bedroom and headed down to the beach in search of some peace and quiet.

Captain Daniel Gregg paced the Captain's walk for an hour before he realized it had been that long and he stopped only to see Carolyn leave Gull Cottage and head out onto the beach.

Blasted, confounded woman! What was wrong with her these days? He thought they had reached a better understanding of sorts, but all they seemed to do was to argue again. He knew there was a problem and it wasn't the small things they argued about, it was something much deeper, something that bothered Carolyn to no end. In truth, he knew what was bothering her; it was his inability to speak his words of love to the one person in the universe he treasured most, his inability to soothe away her fears with his admission of love. But how could he in truth say to her what he most wanted to hear from him? How could he tell her that he loved her when he was no longer a mortal man, as he first told her "only an illusion." What kind of life could he possibly offer her? He couldn't legitimately marry her, couldn't give his name to her or the children, he couldn't provide for her as a man should, so what was the point in professing his feelings of love? What good would it possibly do? How could he tie her to him like that? It was beyond thoughtless but he had no idea of how to explain that to her. In truth, he had some thoughts of late, that made him very unhappy but he was forced to see the truth in them, maybe he was responsible for some of the unhappiness in their lives, specifically in her life. If he wasn't around then he couldn't interfere and she would be free to find a living man (he refused to say 'real man') who would love her and the kids. Never as much as he did, but still, maybe it would be what was best for them.

He pretended not to notice the tears in his blue eyes as he looked out at the sea, not to feel the pain tearing at his heart as he contemplated a new possible course of action.

Supper that night was quiet, Mrs. Muir decided to take her dinner in her room, and the Captain just never appeared to any of them. The kids looked at Martha and shook their heads.

"Kids, I think it's time. Do you know what to do?"

They nodded.

"Go get them and bring them down here and we'll make them talk," she said with her best stern expression.

"On my way," Jonathan said.

"Me too," Candy said and the two disappeared up the stairs.

Candy knocked on the door to the Master Cabin and waited for permission to enter. Her mom called out to her to enter the room. The young girl did and found her mother sitting in front of the typewriter staring at a blank piece of paper.

"Mom? Are you okay?" she studied her mom's face and could tell that she had been crying, her eyes were still red and puffy.

"I'm fine, Candy, just fine," she gave her daughter a fake cheery smile.

"We missed you at dinner," she said.

"I'm sorry, I just had so much work to do," she gestured at the typewriter but all Candy saw was blank pages.

"Mom, you work too hard," Candy went around to the desk chair that Carolyn was sitting in and took her hand, pulling her out of the chair.

"Candy, what are you doing?"

"We saved dessert for you, please come down and talk to us?" Candy gave her mother her best sad face.

"You missed me that much?" Carolyn smiled.

"Of course, we love you," she said.

"That's exactly what I mean, how hard is that to say?" Carolyn demanded of Candy who gave her a strange look.

"Mom?"

"Never mind, honey, it has nothing to do with you," she ruffled Candy's hair. "I think you're right. I think dessert is exactly what I need."

"Good," Candy smiled at her mother. "Let's go," she said and took Carolyn's hand leading her out of the bedroom and down the stairs.

Jonathan entered the wheelhouse, looking around but not seeing any sign of the Captain, undeterred, he called out for his hero.

"Captain Gregg? Captain Gregg? Where are you?" There was no immediate answer. "Captain Gregg I need to talk to you please."

After a long moment, the Captain appeared before the boy, and Jonathan noticed the sad look on his face, the Captain was noticeably upset.

"Captain? Are you all right?"

"Yes, lad, I am."

"You look sad, what's wrong?" Jonathan reached out and touched the Captain's cheek.

Captain Gregg bent down so that he was at Jonathan's level, and without a word, pulled the boy to him in a fierce hug. When he let him go Jonathan stared into his face. "I love you, Captain. You don't mind, do you?"

"How could I mind? You're a fine lad."

"Captain, we missed you downstairs, come down please."

"Why?"

"Candy and I need help with our homework, can you help us?" Jonathan took his hand in his.

"Well, I probably shouldn't go down; I believe your mother is mad at me." He rubbed his beard.

"She's not there and we really need your help. Please!" Jonathan pleaded, using his best hopeful face.

The Captain looked at the boy for a moment before decided to accompany him. There was no point in letting his argument with the lad's mother color his love for the boy. "Very well," he agreed.

"But you have to promise me something before we go," Jonathan waited for the Captain to meet his gaze.

"And what would that be?"

"This homework's really hard and may take a while, you have to promise to stay with Candy and me until we tell you we are finished with it."

"That's an odd request." He eyed the boy with curiosity.

"Do you promise?"

"Yes, of course."

"On your honor?" Jonathan asked, knowing how important that agreement was to the Captain.

"On my honor, Jonathan. I will not leave until you and Candy tell me you are done with your homework." He smiled. "Does that satisfy you?"

"Yes." Still grasping the Captain's hand, he tried to pull him along. When the Captain didn't budge, Jonathan looked at him. "Captain?"

"You have to let go of my hand, it is our secret , remember?"

"Oh, yeah. Sorry, Captain." He dropped the older man's hand. "Are you coming with me?"

"No, but I will meet you down there in say, five minutes?"

"Okay," Jonathan nodded. "See ya!" He ran out of the attic and raced down the stairs. He hoped that Candy had convinced their mother to meet them in the living room. He laughed; things were going to get interesting very soon.

When Carolyn entered the room she was surprised to see Martha sitting in a wing chair placed near the entryway.

"Martha?" She looked around and saw no sign of the dessert that Candy promised. "Where's the dessert?"

"Oh that, there is no dessert," Martha said.

"Then what am I doing here?" Carolyn looked from one to the other, Candy just shrugged.

"Why don't you have a seat, Mrs. Muir? On the sofa please."

"All right," Carolyn said.

Jonathan raced down the stairs and skittered into the living room, he stopped abruptly when he saw his mom, and threw his arms around her. "Hi Mom."

"Hi to you too." She looked around. "It seems like a family meeting that you forgot to tell me about?"

"Almost, a family meeting," Martha said. She looked at Jonathan, who nodded.

The Captain popped into the middle of the room without any warning and very nearly knocked Jonathan over.

"Sorry, my lad."

"No problem, Captain." He looked up at the Captain who suddenly seemed very uncomfortable when he noted all of the family members, including Carolyn were in the room.

"What's going on here?" the ghost grumbled.

"That's what I would like to know," Carolyn agreed.

The Captain and Carolyn refused to look at each other.

"This is an intervention," Martha said in a no nonsense voice.

"An intervention?" Carolyn's mouth dropped open and she looked from Martha to the children.

"Intervention?" the Captain rumbled and the kids heard nearby thunder. "What in blazes are you talking about?"

"You guys fight all the time and we want you to stop," Candy explained.

"So we're going to help you," Jonathan further clarified.

"Blast! You'll do no such thing! I will not stand for it!" The Captain straightened as his anger began to get the better of him and he gestured as if to leave, but was stopped by Jonathan.

"Captain, you said on your honor! You didn't lie, did you?" The boy regarded him with disappointed eyes.

The rumbling of the thunder lowered in volume as he regarded the lad. "No, I didn't lie."

"I told you Candy and I had a lot of homework and it's true. You and Mom are our homework."

"Captain, why don't you sit down on the couch next to Mrs. Muir?" Martha suggested.

The Captain looked at the sofa as it was going to bite him, but after a long moment, settled on the couch as far away from Carolyn as possible.

"What in blazes do you mean by intervention?" he finally asked.

"It's what Candy said, you two fight all of the time over stupid things and we're tired of it. The children and I want to help you to put things right."

Carolyn crossed her arms in front of her. "And how to you plan to do that?"

"First, you guys have to talk to each other," Candy said. "Jonathan and I will show you how easy it is, right, Jonathan?"

'Right."

They walked over to their mom and stopped in front of her. "Mom, how do you feel about us?"

"Well, I love you," Carolyn laughed as they hugged her.

"And we love you too," they said.

Then they went over to the Captain and stood in front of him. "Captain, how do you feel about us?" Jonathan asked.

"Well, I…" he pulled on his earlobe. He knew perfectly well that he loved the children and had actually told them so in the past, but being put on the spot he was having trouble getting the words out.

"Then I'll go first," Jonathan chirped. "Captain, you're like my real dad and I love you." He grinned at the Captain. "See how easy that was."

"My turn," Candy said. "Captain, I haven't known you as long as Jonathan and Mom, but I feel the same way, you're already like my dad, and I love you too."

The Captain was dumbfounded, the children made everything so easy, so simple, just like he thought love was supposed to be. And he knew without a doubt that he loved them, maybe it was time he told them so in front of everyone.

"Jonathan, Candy, I hardly know what to say," he hedged.

"Tell us how you feel about us," Candy said and stared directly into his eyes.

In her eyes he saw reflections of her mother, the intelligence, the stubbornness, and the same kind of love for him. He bowed his head for a moment and then raised it looking into the young, waiting faces, and allowed a slight smile to touch his face.

"Children, you honor me with what you have just told me…"

"And?" Jonathan prompted and smiled at the Captain.

"And I do love you," he admitted at last and shared a warm smile with them.

Carolyn watched with interest the exchange with the Captain and her children, and began to better understand just how hard it was for him to admit those feelings. Perhaps it made him vulnerable?

"See, that wasn't so hard, was it?" Candy said.

"No, I guess not."

'Do you mean it?" Jonathan asked. "Do you really love us?"

"Of course I do, you know I wouldn't say it otherwise." He offered them a warm smile.

"Good." Jonathan exchanged an apprehensive look with Candy and Martha. "Then we need you to do something else," he said.

"You too, Mom," Candy said and took her hand, turning her to look at the Captain.

"Captain, talk to mom," Jonathan encouraged. "Tell her how you feel about her."

"How I feel about her? Why would I do that?" he stood up and Jonathan stared him down again.

"On your honor," the boy reminded him with somber eyes.

"Yes, well…" the Captain sat down again.

"Well I don't have to stay," Carolyn got up to leave.

Martha stood up blocking her way. "I'm afraid you do, Carolyn. I'm their muscle you see, and I outweigh you by quite a bit so I wouldn't try to leave any time soon."

"Martha, you can't be serious!" Carolyn regarded Martha in disbelief. "You are!"

"Sit down on the sofa, or I will help you there," Martha said, and cowed by her manner, Carolyn complied, actually exchanging a surprised look with the Captain who merely shrugged.

The children stopped in front of the Captain again and looked him in the eye. "Tell her, Captain. The rest of us know how you feel about mom, now tell her."

"Yeah, she needs to hear the words," Candy said.

Carolyn regarded her children in amazement. When had they gotten so smart?

Ever so slowly, the Captain turned to face Carolyn, and for the first time since they had both sat on the sofa, he looked into her face. He studied it, seeing the stress there, fatigue and realized the toll that their fighting was taking on her.

"I'm sorry," he said.

"An apology? From you?" she raised an eyebrow; Daniel Gregg never apologized, at least not so directly.

"Yes, from me. I haven't meant to make things difficult for you." He paused, considering his words. "But saying the words that you want to hear will only make things more difficult for you, for everyone."

"How can things possibly be more difficult?" Carolyn asked. "How can you tell the children how you feel, but not tell me?"

"It is easier to tell them how I feel."

"Why?" She studied his face and found herself waiting for his gaze to meet hers

"Because my feelings for you run so much deeper," he whispered, "Because despite my best intentions I can never give you what you so deserve…" he said so softly she almost didn't hear. He shook his head and looked at the ground. "And I do not see what good saying this will do either of us, but I do love you."

Martha exchanged a look with the children and nodded at their mother.

"Mom, it's your turn," Candy encouraged. "Tell the Captain how you feel."

"How I feel?" Carolyn looked from her children to the Captain who sat still, his head still bowed before her. "How I feel?" she looked at Candy who nodded at her. "Daniel, you stupid man, I love you, surely you know that?"

"You can't, it's wrong," he whispered.

"Why is it wrong?" she asked.

"Because I'm not real, I'm a shadow of the man I was, a spirit," he raised her gaze and for a moment she saw the glimmer of tears in his blue eyes. "Despite my best intentions I love you but how can I ask you to tie yourself to me? I have nothing, I can give you nothing. I should leave you to the living; leave you to find a man that can give you what you want, what you need."

Candy, Jonathan and Martha exchanged a long look between them, uncertain what to do next, a look that wasn't lost on Carolyn. She wasn't sure if they had crossed into private conversation but sensed they were close. She looked at Martha, who shook her head, the implication was clear; they weren't going to be left alone to get into a fight, or even the possibility of one at this moment.

Carolyn took a deep breath, she had been so upset, so frustrated with not hearing words of love from him that she hadn't thought to think why he wasn't saying them. "Daniel, please look at me."

After a long moment, he did, and she saw the pain etched in his face, the kind of pain that could only be inflicted on a person in love when things aren't going right.

"It's you I love, no one else. No one else could be in my heart or my mind, living or dead, and you give me more than any man ever could."

"How can that be?" he grumbled.

"You support me in everything I do, even if you disagree with me. You love the children, and Martha," she tossed her friend a teasing look. "You helped me with my writing when I've needed it so that I can pay the rent. You let me confide in you, you've become my best friend." She waited for the Captain to look at her. "I love you, Daniel."

He closed his eyes for a long moment and then opened them again only to stare into her lovely green eyes. "Carolyn, my love, my heart, you are the love of my life."

They stared at each other lost again in each other's eyes.

The kids nodded at each other and at Martha and then shared a smile.

"That wasn't so hard, was it?" Jonathan grinned at the two of them, and broken out of their reverie, they laughed. "So you two love each other, right?"

The Captain and Carolyn looked at each other and smiled, and then nodded.

"Then we have another surprise for you," Martha said and stood up.

"We need you to stand up and come over here," Jonathan said standing up proudly.

The Captain and Carolyn shrugged, and humoring Jonathan, walked over to stand before him.

"Now what, lad?" the Captain asked.

"Now you marry Mom." he grinned at the two of them.

"What?" Carolyn gaped.

Candy and Martha went over to stand beside Jonathan.

"The children think you deserve a wedding, obviously it's not legal, but I think they're right. I've never seen a couple that needs to be married more than you two."

"But I'm a ghost!"

"We don't care," the children chorused.

"Do you mind, Mom?" Candy asked.

Carolyn gave Daniel an appraising glance and wished it was a real wedding, wished it was her real wedding to Daniel and that they could follow up on the wedding night festivities.

"No, I don't mind," she shared a long look with the Captain. "But I think that Daniel and I need a few minutes to talk about this?"

"Yes, quite," he agreed.

Martha studied the two of them and nodded to the children. "All right, we'll give you just until we finish another helping of dessert, about ten minutes or so. No fighting and no leaving the room. Agreed?"

Carolyn and the Captain nodded, and watched the rest of the family depart for the kitchen.

The couple left in the room studied each other in silence.

"Well, we should say something," she said.

"Yes." He gave her a long look. "I am truly sorry for any difficulties I have caused you, my dear, but I was only looking out for your own best interests."

"Don't you think I should be allowed to look after my own best interests?"

"Yes, but our circumstances are exceptional, don't you think?" He stepped closer to her and looked into her eyes. "My dear, you are a beautiful, intelligent, vibrant woman who has so much of life ahead of her, so much that life should offer you." His eyes narrowed in displeasure, but she could tell that the displeasure was with him. "And no matter how much I love you, how much I want to be with you, I cannot make myself live again to be the man that you deserve."

"Daniel, do you think so little of me that I am unable to make my own decisions?" She berated him gently.

"It's not that, it's that I cannot be what you need me to be, so why should I declare my feelings for you and force you to make a choice?"

Carolyn sighed and shook her head. "Daniel, let me make my own choice. If I choose to love you as a spirit then let me. You can't control what my heart feels."

"No," he chuckled softly, "that I would never presume to do."

"And apparently you can't control how your heart feels either?"

"Apparently not," he rubbed his beard and then looked deep into her lovely green eyes. "I've loved you from the first moment you graced this house with your presence." He looked away for a moment as though overcome by his deeper emotions. "I will only admit this to you once so please listen carefully. I have never been in love before; such a revelation never gifted my life during the time I was allowed. Now completely and unexpectedly in an afterlife that I never expected to have, I have fallen spectacularly in love with a most incredible, intelligent, gorgeous woman I had ever had the pleasure of knowing."

"Me?" Carolyn squeaked, caught unprepared for his declaration.

"You. I am hopelessly, passionately in love with you," he whispered.

"Oh, Daniel, I'm in love with you too. My words are not as eloquent as yours but the feelings are the same."

"I can hardly marry you, though it is my fondest wish, because I am only a spirit."

"Only a spirit?" She laughed. "You are an incomparable spirit and I'm sure you were an incomparable man. I would be honored to be your wife."

"Truly?" he blinked rapidly and tried to quickly wipe his eye, Carolyn pretended not to notice.

"Truly." She sighed. "And I'm sorry I'm shallow, Daniel, but I don't think you know how much I long to touch you and be touched by you. I wish you could make that possible."

"And if I could?" his blue eyes had a definite twinkle in them.

"If you could?" She laughed. "If you could do that, my Captain, there would be nothing more for me to long for."

"Life with me will not be easy," he cautioned.

Carolyn gave him a 'tell me something I don't know' look and he laughed.

"No, I mean the circumstances of being a ghost will preclude many things that you consider to be part of normal life among the living."

"We'll work around it," she said. "The kids are willing and so am I."

"So you actually want to get married? I don't think it's a pretend wedding for the children."

"I think you're right, if we go through with this they will consider us married here at Gull Cottage. Can you live with that? Are you ready to be an immediate husband and father?"

The Captain tugged on his ear, and let the grin spread across his face. "I would at that, wouldn't I? Hmm, the implications of that are staggering," he teased.

"Captain, Daniel, they'll be back any minute now. Are you in or out?" Her eyes searched his face. "It's your choice. I won't force you into anything."

"I can't think of anything I want more, my dear lady." He looked at her with a somber expression. "I am serious in my intent, though we can do this properly later, I plan to be with you for eternity, can you live with that?"

"Then we're getting married?"

"Yes," he laughed, "we're getting married."

The kids and Martha came bounding into the room a few moments later.

Martha gave them a stern look. "We didn't hear any fighting, did you behave yourselves?"

"Yes, we had a very good talk," Carolyn said.

"We did indeed," the Captain agreed.

"So you're ready to get married?" Jonathan asked.

The couple looked at each other and nodded.

"Good. Then I'll do the ceremony," Candy said. "And if things ever change you can do it for real. Promise?" she asked the two of them.

"Promise," the Captain agreed.

"I promise too," said Carolyn.

"Come on, Candy, marry them," Jonathan urged.

Candy stood up very straight before them. "Captain, do you take this woman, my mother to be your wife? To love and to cherish, in sickness and in health til death…..err.." She looked at Jonathan and Martha with a 'what do I do now?' look.

"Say eternity," instructed the Captain.

"Great idea," she agreed. "where was I? To love and to cherish, in sickness and in health, together until eternity?"

"I, Daniel Gregg, take you, Carolyn Muir, to be my wife, to love and to cherish, in sickness and in health, together until eternity."

Carolyn and the Captain stared into each other's eyes.

"Mom, same thing. Do you take Captain Daniel Gregg to be your husband? To love and to cherish, in sickness and in heath, together until eternity?"

"Yes, I Carolyn, take you Daniel Gregg to be my husband, to love and to cherish, in sickness and in health, together until eternity."

"I pronounce you husband and wife," Candy grinned at them and Martha and Jonathan cheered. "You're married now."

"Thank you, dear girl."

"Come on, Captain, kiss her!" Jonathan said, dancing around happily.

"Yeah, kiss her," Candy said.

"What are you waiting for,Captain?" Martha gave him a direct look. "Isn't it time you shared your secret? You're married now."

"Kiss me? Secret?" Carolyn looked from one to the other feeling like a plane was about to land on her. "What are you talking about?"

"I think you're right," the Captain let an incredible smile spread across his face, and turned to Carolyn. "My love, I have been working on a new ability and think I will be able to put it to good use." Without another word, he pulled her to him, looked at her for just a moment and then placed a sweet kiss on her lips.

"Mission accomplished, kids. Let's go to that movie I promised you," Martha said. "We'll be back later. Remember, no more fighting."

The couple never heard them leave; they were lost in each other's arms, their lips locked together. When they came up for air, she looked into his face in wonder.

"Daniel, I don't understand. How is this possible?"

"Corporeal, my dear, I've learned to be corporeal."

"Umm, how far does your corporeal extend?" she asked and blushed.

"I have not had the occasion to find out," he murmured, and drew away from her. "Carolyn, I know we aren't really married. It was sweet what the children did for us." He paused. "Is it better now that I admitted my feelings?" He traced a finger down her cheek with great tenderness.

"Yes, it is." She paused. "I'm sorry, Daniel. I wanted to hear the words so badly I never thought to find out why you didn't want to say them."

"Yes, well, our barriers are down now, perhaps we can refrain from fighting so much?"

"I would like that. I can actually think of better things to do," she said.

"My love, as I said, we are not legally married."

"It might be as close as we are ever going to get, my Captain." Her eyes searched his. "Did you mean what you said tonight?"

"I did. If I could make those vows legal and binding I would do it in a moment."

"I would too."

"So it would seem that we are in love…" he brushed a stray hair away from her forehead.

"Yes," she whispered

"And you feel that we are as married as we can be?" he asked.

"Yes, and it's what I want." She wrapped her arms around his neck and drew him down for a kiss.

His lips sought out hers, and her mouth opened for him, tongues fencing playfully. Their kisses deepened and curious, she pressed herself against him, and found what she was hoping for, definite signs of arousal. When they paused to gather their breath, he pulled her against him, holding her tight.

"Daniel, it seems your corporeal is quite impressive," she wiggled against him.

"Wench," he growled in her ear. "Hold still; allow me to gather myself together. I hardly think that the living room is the best place for us to continue this. The intervention squad may still make an appearance."

She giggled. "Maybe you're right. Can you take us upstairs?"

"My pleasure," he said as he pulled her close. He concentrated and in a moment they were in the master suite of Gull cottage. "Where were we?" he asked.

"Let me remind you," she said, and kissed him with abandon.

When they broke apart he stared into her eyes, his own eyes dark with passion.

"I think I can provide you with a most memorable wedding night, Mrs. Gregg."

Carolyn put a hand to her mouth, covering her laughter. "Oh, Lord, I am Mrs. Gregg now, aren't I?'

"The one and the only. Together forever until eternity," his silk voice caressed her ears and she wanted to drown in the blue pools of his eyes.

'Do you promise?" she whispered. "Will you always be there for me no matter what?"

"Always, my love," he brought her hand up to his and kissed it softly, all the while staring into her eyes.

"Daniel," she murmured and was drawn into his arm for a long, passionate kiss. When they broke apart, she smiled, looking into his eyes. "Now what can you do in the way of a honeymoon?"

"Ahh, that," he stroked his beard thoughtfully. "I think I can come up with something creative, I will work on that tomorrow."

"Tomorrow?" Carolyn was clearly disappointed.

The Captain laughed. "I'm talking about arranging some sort of honeymoon for us; I will work on that tomorrow." He bent his head down to hers and slowly and sweetly, ravaged her mouth until they felt the need to breathe again. "But for tonight, well, it is our wedding night, isn't it?"

"Yes," she shivered as he whispered in her ear.

"Then perhaps we should do wedding night activities?" he gave her a suggestive smile.

"But it's still early, the kids will be back…"

"Not for at least a couple of hours, that's more than enough time to get started." He paused. "And I will make sure that except for us the rest of the household has a very good sleep tonight. We will be free to do as we please."

"Anything?" Carolyn asked with a secret smile.

"Nothing we do will wake them. Does that meet with your approval?"

'Very much so,' she said, hands pressed against his chest. "But for now, as you said, we do have some time," she breathed into his ear and he shivered as she felt her hands brush against his trousers.

"Oh, Carolyn," his voice was deep, raw with emotion and passion. Without another word he picked her up and carried her to their bed, setting her down with great tenderness.

They stared into each other's eyes, lost once again.

"I love you, Captain Gregg," Carolyn said, laying a hand on his cheek a she stared into his blue eyes filled with love.

"And I love you, Mrs. Gregg," his whispered, placing his hand on her cheek. 'Eternity is a very long time?"

"I can't imagine spending it with anyone else," she said.

"The children and Martha are very smart, you know."

"Yes, I'm aware of that. Maybe we should reward them somehow? Maybe extra dessert for the children?"

"Excellent idea, but they can have their dessert later, right now we should have ours." He pushed her down on the bed and began to kiss her.

"I love dessert," she murmured. "Will it be sweet?"

"As sweet as you let it, my love. After all of this time, I suspect it will be most sweet for both of us."

Then words became unnecessary as their communication became silent, spoken through touch, sound and actions, as they became one with each other, the walls that separated them finally falling away never to be resurrected again.


End file.
